Kamen, Martin David, 1913-2002

Martin David Kamen (August 27, 1913, Toronto – August 31, 2002, Montecito, California) was an American chemist who, together with Sam Ruben, co-discovered the synthesis of the isotope carbon-14 on February 27, 1940, at the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley. He also confirmed that all of the oxygen released in photosynthesis comes from water, not carbon dioxide, in 1941. Kamen was the first to use carbon-14 to study a biochemical system, and his work revolutionized biochemistry and molecular biology, enabling scientists to trace a wide variety of biological reactions and processes. Despite being blacklisted for nearly a decade on suspicion of being a security risk, Kamen went on to receive the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 1989, and the U.S. Department of Energy's 1995 Enrico Fermi award for lifetime scientific achievement.